Airline Offers 100,000 Free Tickets To Thailand

Budget carrier AirAsia on Wednesday offered 100,000 free seats to Thailand to lure back foreign visitors after a siege of Bangkok’s airports by anti-government protesters.

The airline said the seats would be available between Wednesday and Friday and cover services from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jakarta, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam, as well as from Thailand itself.

One hundred thousand tickets on AirAsia will be issued and are valid between Jan. 6 and March 31, 2009, the discount airline said. Passengers have to pay any taxes and fees.

The tickets are valid between Jan. 6 and March 31, 2009, it said. Passengers have to pay any taxes and fees.

“Thailand is a great place in the world to visit. I am optimistic,” the airline’s chief executive officer Tony Fernandes told reporters in Bangkok late Tuesday.

Protesters lifted an eight-day siege of Bangkok’s international and domestic airports on December 3, after a court outlawed Thailand’s ruling party and barred the prime minister from politics.

The blockade left around 350,000 passengers stranded in the country and images of exhausted tourists sleeping on baggage check-in belts led to predictions that tourist numbers could fall by half next year.

New Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was voted in by parliament on Monday and has vowed to help restore the country’s battered economy and international image.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said AirAsia’s free seats campaign would help draw foreign visitors back to the country faster and boost the Thai economy next next year.

“Thailand is back to normal and the campaign will help us maintain our tourist projections, especially from the Asian region,” said TAT governor Pornsiri Manohan.